And HASHEM spoke to Moshe saying: “Speak to the Children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering. And this is the offering that you shall take from them: gold, silver, and copper…” (Shemos 25:1-3)

and have them take for Me. (Hebrew) לִי dedicated to My Name. – Rashi

Here we have an unusual requirement. When it comes to the building of the Mishkan, which is an invitation for HASHEM to dwell in our midst, there is need for it to be given for the sake of HASHEM’s name. It has to be as the verse says, “LI”, and as Rashi explains, “FOR ME”, for HASHEM.

The Magdanus Eliezer employs this idea to breathe a new world of understanding into a verse from the Navi Chagai, “Li HaKesef v’Li HaZahav N’Um HASHEM” – “To Me is the silver and to Me is the gold, so says HASHEM”. (Chagai 2:8) The usual meaning would seem to be telling us that ultimately HASHEM is the supernal banker of the universe. Money and finances are HASHEM’s realm. HASHEM decides who becomes wealthy and why and HASHEM decides who will live an austere existence. All silver and gold are really HASHEM’s.

However, there is a new twist implied here. Using the Torah as a self-referential dictionary he redefines the usual meaning. The word “LI” hearkens to the use of “LI” as mentioned above, “and have them take for Me: לִי dedicated to My Name. So, when the prophet speaks in the persona of HASHEM declaring, “To Me is the silver and to Me is the gold…”, we are being told what is the proper use of silver and gold. What is it good for? What is its ideal use!?

There is a world of difference between an expenditure and an investment. With an expenditure there is no future return. It is lost in the past and gone forever. An investment brings future returns and if the dividends are eternal, or they forge a lasting relationship with HASHEM then, it is never lost. It increases on an infinite curve.

The young son of a wealthy man asked many years ago what is the Torah’s view on money. The answer I gave him on the spot was admittedly extra sharp and perhaps crude but I told him straight, “Having a lot of money is like having a bag of manure. If it is spread out as fertilizer on a field of Torah and Mitzvos and it catalyzes growth and change, then it is extremely powerful and productive. However, if it just remains in a bag to be collected and held on to, then, (pardon me please) it stinks”.

In Megilas Esther, when Haman, saw that Mordechai refused to bow down to him, he became enraged, and he said, “KOL ZEH AINO SHAVA LI” – All this (referring to his incredible wealth) is worthless “LI” “to me”, as long as I see Mordechai standing there. What did he find so objectionable about Mordechai’s presence? He had a 99.99% approval rating and one man is withholding honor from him. Cut your losses, Haman, and go home. How does that make everything he has worthless?

Mordechai was a Yehudi, and a Yehudi, the Talmud tells us, is someone who denies idolatry. We, as Jews, do not give credit or credence to any other force in the universe. Nothing operates independent of HASHEM. Everything comes from HASHEM, EVERYTHING. There is no place where there is not HASHEM. Everything belongs to HASHEM. “To HASHEM is the silver and the gold.”

Imagine children playing a serious game of monopoly and one kid is dominating. He’s got Boardwalk, Park Place, and piles of money. He’s riding high with pride and then along comes mom. She sticks her head into the room and declares, “Dinner time! Put the game away”. It’s recognized now for what it is, a game. That jolt of reality is like a pin into a largely inflated balloon. Mordechai, by just being a Yehudi, a Jew is a reminder of the real ultimate value. He understood, perhaps subconsciously, that he really has nothing at all, if it is all only meant to feed his own egotistic sense of “LI” and not the true “LI” that could connect him to a golden investment opportunity.